Seen from outside it seems as though Wales is the poor relation in the devolution story, for ever playing catch-up with Scotland. "And to a lesser extent in Wales," has been a persistent refrain during the first decade in the life of the National Assembly.

For some it goes back to the uncertainty with which the Welsh greeted their assembly in the referendum in 1997, with a wafer thin 6,271 majority out of more than a million votes cast. On the other hand the Scots voted by a two to one majority and were rewarded with a fully-fledged parliament. Meanwhile the Welsh had to be content with an assembly that at first looked more like a local government body than a national institution.

Yet there is another way of looking at the devolution story. In 1997 the Welsh yes vote represented a remarkable 30% increase in positive votes compared with the four-to-one referendum defeat back in 1979. This was a 15% swing, which was larger than the 11.5% swing to the "yes" side in Scotland.

Moreover, it was young people who voted yes. A large-scale analysis found that age was the most critical factor in determining which way people voted in 1997. If you were 45 and under you voted by a three-to-two margin in favour of the assembly. If you were older than 45 you voted by a three-to-two margin against. The reason it was so close was that the young tend not to vote.

In 1997 there were 600,000 people who in 1979 had been too young to vote. This new generation was no less Welsh than their forbears, but they regarded their Welshness in a different light. They were less British – for them the second world war was history – and as far as they were concerned disputes over the Welsh language were a thing of the past.

It was striking, too, that in the immediate wake of the 1997 referendum, polls found that people wanted to go much further. A large majority thought that the Welsh constitutional settlement should be equivalent to the one the Scots enjoyed. Much of the history of the first 10 years of Welsh devolution was the slow creation of a Welsh parliamentary institution out of the local government shell that was provided by the 1998 Government of Wales Act. This was confirmed in the referendum in March this year, when there was a two-to-one majority in favour of full legislative powers.

There was a good deal of adverse commentary about the low 36% turnout in the referendum. Nonetheless, extensive surveys after the event found that if the turnout had been higher the result would have been the same. Of those who voted yes, 65% really wanted more powers, and 15% independence.

Arguably, the devolution process is having more far-reaching effects in Wales than in Scotland, as it is building a political nation for the first time. When the Scottish parliament was "reconvened" in 1999, it was as though a keystone was being placed in an already existing arch of state institutions, ranging from distinctive legal and education systems, to the Kirk, financial bodies, a highly developed press and a mature government administration. On the other hand, from the start in Wales the role of the National Assembly has been to build the arch of a civil society structure into which it can fit.

One reason why Wales's first minister, Carwyn Jones, is so well regarded is because, first and foremost, he is an ardent fan of Welsh rugby. This week his mind will be more on the chances of Wales reaching the finals of the World Cup in New Zealand than his governmental duties. But if, as the whole nation is willing, the team reaches the finals, then the focus for their homecoming will be the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. That is the measure of the extraordinary transformation in Welsh life that has occurred over the past decade.